NATION WORLD
'His biggest dream was to be a dad': Man killed after being punched from behind leaves behind pregnant wife

TJ Pizzitola, 29, was one month away from becoming a father. Police say he was killed after a suspect blindsided him and punched him from behind.

Author: Bianca Buono
Published: 10:27 AM EDT October 24, 2025
Updated: 10:27 AM EDT October 24, 2025

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — A 29-year-old Valley man is dead after police say he was blindsided and punched from behind in Old Town Scottsdale. … TJ Pizzitola, 29, had his arms by his side and was walking away when a suspect struck him, rendering him unconscious. He later died from his injuries.

As Scottsdale police have arrested five suspects in connection with the attack, including one man for second-degree murder, Pizzitola's family is remembering the beloved son, husband, brother, and soon-to-be father who was taken away from them.

{snip}

TJ Pizzitola went out with two of his longtime friends in Old Town Scottsdale. Records show that just after 2 a.m., they were waiting for an Uber to pick them up. It was raining, so crowds were huddling underneath the roof of Pattie's First Avenue Lounge near Scottsdale Road. Police say that as TJ Pizzitola's group was walking to their pickup area, one of TJ Pizzitola's friends bumped into a woman. … "Just let them walk away. I don't know why they didn't just let them walk away," Krisan Pizzitola said. … As TJ Pizzitola and his friends kept walking, that woman and four of her male friends followed them, records show. Then, 24-year-old Drew Meneses is accused of attacking TJ Pizzitola from behind, blindsiding him and punching him in the head. It rendered TJ Pizzitola unconscious.

During Meneses' initial appearance before a judge, a prosecutor said there was a cell phone video showing the attack. … "What you can see is [Pizzitola] standing with his arms to his side and you can see [Meneses] walk up behind him and essentially what we refer to as sucker punched him in the head. That one punch caused the victim to have brain injury so severe that he went down completely unconscious and never recovered," said Angela Andrews with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

{snip}